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CHICAGO—After Game 1, Boston goalie Tuukka Rask basically said the Bruins gave away a victory.

By the time Game 2 was over, the same could be said of the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Stanley Cup Final is knotted at a game apiece thanks to Boston’s 2-1 overtime win Saturday night with Game 3 Monday night in Boston. And there may be no bigger a reason for the tie than the goaltending of Rask.

He was simply spectacular, holding off the Blackhawks as they came in wave after wave in the first period, emerging with only a one-goal lead.

“We definitely were in survival mode there for a bit. It looked like they had more guys out there than we did,” said Rask. “They were bouncing on every single puck in front of net, had a lot of chances. We definitely played pretty bad.

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“But, you know, it was good that we were only down by one and regrouped after that.”

The Blackhawks—who had a goal called back due to a quick whistle—came to regret not scoring more in the first. Midway through the second, the Bruins found their legs through some line juggling. Chris Kelly tied it late in the second. Daniel Paille won it in overtime.

“When you score a goal and are playing the way we were playing in the first, you need to find a way to sustain that and we didn’t quite do that,” said Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews. “I think we could have brought a little more physical play, but we were moving our feet.

“We were the aggressors early on in the game, and their physical play didn’t really affect us too much. We just let them play their game and make the plays they wanted midway through the game and toward the end”

But the fist period, when it was Rask against the Blackhawks, may well have been Rask’s best of the playoffs even though he allowed a goal.

“Every goal you let in you have a chance to save,” said Rask. “I’m not going to blame myself for that. I think there were three or four saves before that goal. I couldn’t find that puck until the last second.

“But, you know, I mean, they had 19 shots, and one goes by you. I mean, it happens sometimes.”

Bruins coach Claude Julien said his team—thankful their goalie kept them in the game—responded to Rask’s efforts in limiting Chicago’s chances the rest of the way.

“I think we gave them four shots in the second, four shots in the third, maybe two or three in the overtime,” said Julien. “We at least gave him a little bit of an opportunity to catch his breath again.

“That first period, like I said, was extremely hard for him. But thankfully our guys rewarded him with that effort by being a lot better in front of him for the rest of the game.”

SOME STATS:

•Teams winning Game 2 of the Final have gone on to win the Stanley Cup in 55 of 73 years since the best-of-seven format began in 1939 (75.3%), including eight of the past 10 seasons.

•This marks the first split in the first two games of the Stanley Cup Final since 2004, when Calgary won the first game on the road and Tampa Bay came back to win Game 2. The Lightning eventually won that series in seven games.

•For the second consecutive year, Games 1 and 2 of the Stanley Cup Final have been decided in extra time.

•The Bruins snapped the Blackhawks’ six-game home winning streak in improving to 6-3 away from TD Garden in the 2013 playoffs. Boston is the only club with a winning road-record this post-season, outscoring opponents 29-18.

•The Bruins are 10-2 in their last 12 games (since Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals), with both losses coming in overtime. They have outscored opponents, 38-21, in that span.

•Boston’s victory broke a nine-game winning streak by home clubs in overtime games this post-season. Overall, home clubs are 19-7 (.731) in games decided in extra time.

•For the second time in as many games in the 2013 Stanley Cup Final, the winning club did not lead at any point in the game.

•The Bruins posted their League-leading fifth victory after surrendering the first goal of the game (5-2). Chicago fell to 9-3 when scoring first.

•The Blackhawks’ Patrick Sharp tallied his ninth goal of the playoffs, tying him with the Bruins’ David Krejci for the overall lead.

WHAT THE COACHES SAID:

Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville: “I thought we slowed ourselves down. I don’t think we got the puck behind them. I think we were in front of them too much. I think that played into their hands.”

Bruins coach Claude Julien: “We need to battle. We need to win those battles, come up with the puck, make those plays. That puck ended up in front and (Chris) Kelly went in there and banged at it.”

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